Great books. I’m half way through volume two now. I’ve enjoyed these books. I’ve also relistening to the albums as I read the passages in the books in which they were composed and recorded. I hadn’t revisited some of these albums in a quite a while and have a new and better appreciation of his work. Aside from the obvious hits, there are some deeper cuts that appeal to me more now than they did in the past. And some of the albums that were derided in the past hold up very well today. Paul is a rare talent and a world treasure.
I'm like you John reading books has been something I've been pretty bad at doing these days. When I was a kid I was always reading books voraciously, but over time so many distractions have led me away from them being a priority. As for the McCartney Legacy books like most of Paul's best music they're joyous and engaging. I think the 80s will be just as interesting as the 1970s though overall it wasn't as successful commercially for Paul. Hopefully this year will be London Town and Back To The Egg archive year.
@Springheeledjim5 you diabolicql guy stop using my avatar and identical username from today or the police will visit you according to meanmrmayo who had enough of you and martin mcgrath. last chance he told me. if i get messages from peoplr u still using my name meanmrmayo will get you guys
@Springheeledjim5 meanmrmayo knows your real name and adress. if you keep stealing my chatname on livestrams he will get in touch with you. he gave u so many warnings for a long time now
I like your commentary, and this one is particularly interesting. I would have liked it better if you had shown some of the books' pictures (or is there a copyright issue?). About the short six months between the volumes, I'm guessing that they were probably working on both at the same time, more or less, so that by the time the 1st was out, they were mostly done with the 2nd. We'll see how long it takes for Volume 3 to come out.
Masterful works. I've had the pleasure to interview Allan Kozinn twice now for my channel. Not only a gifted writer but a genuinely nice human being. Maybe use John next time as a sub editor to avoid any small errors 😊
Hello John, it is very funny that you came out with your video about the two McCartney books today. I received my copy of Volume One about two hours ago from Amazon. So I‘m really looking forward to read it although 700 pages are really a lot. I really love the records Paul did in the seventies - I‘m still a fan of the wings 😊😊😊!!! So thank you very for your video !!! Greetings from Germany, Thomas.
"The Beatles thing is over."-Paul McCartney, Oct. 1969 There's the breakup announcement - not the q&a with Paul's solo album. No way such a remark would slip through the cracks today.
Yet, January 1970, Paul is in the studio recording 'I Me Mine' with George & Ringo - the last Beatles' recording session. It slipped thru the cracks because only John really knew it was over in October '69!
The reviews of Paul's work back in the 70s was how I learned to ignore reviews in general from that point forward. Publications like Rolling Stone were garbage and a complete waste of paper and ink. I feel sorry for those who wasted time and money for that rubbish.
Rolling Stone correctly panned most of Paul's earliest solo work, like Ram and Wild Life (they were both universally disparaged by the critics at the time and are still disparaged today by them:...they got it exactly right!....). They were a bit too dismissive of his first LP which was clearly the best of his earliest solo work...that's one of the few McCartney early LP's that's listenable as a whole..
@@myguitardetective5961 - Uh, "Ram" is not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination. Then or now. Here are a couple of quotes from RS: "Ram is so incredibly inconsequential and so monumentally irrelevant you can’t even do that with it: it is difficult to concentrate on, let alone dislike or even hate". "The “When I’m Sixty-Four” school of light English baubles is represented by “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” a piece with so many changes it never seems to come down anywhere, and in the places that it does, sounds like the worst piece of light music Paul has ever done." A review so incredibly inconsequential and so monumentally irrelevant.
These are not very good books. If you are curious what Paul and Linda had for breakfast on February 14th 1971, these books are for you! I also admit I ended up skipping endless descriptions of recording sessions. More often than not after reading 5 pages on who played what and how many takes it took for Linda to get her Casio play in right places I would listen to the final product, that is the song only to discover it is 2.5 minutes hardly memorable ditty. What you will not find in the book are discussions of music outside of obvious observations and, even more regrettably, discussions of Paul’s position on the general music scene of 1970. I found in volume 1 exactly two pages of a short discussion on how listeners’ tastes evolved in 1960s, to large extent thanks to The Beatles Revolution and influence. These two pages were actually insightful and we learn from them that discerning listeners moved on beyond simple melodies and three minutes AB song formats plays in radio stations. Then the authors give a list of bands influential in early 1970 and rightly point out this is what Paul was against at the time. Music of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, ELP, Yes and many similar bands occupied listeners. However, we do not learn why being aware of these developments Paul kept sliding into inconsequential pop. Since I was around during those time the book had some nostalgic moments for me and most of all reminded me why I listened to John’s and George’s records but rarely to Paul’s. The latter I remember mostly from his incessant hits blasting from radios (yes, people had radios in 1970s, as hard as it might be to believe).
@@candelise Do you mean in 1970? Or now, with all the wisdom of hindsight? How would you know in 1970 how individual members of The Beatles will fair? They never performed separately (aside from some avant-garde project, but Paul did not even do that), they were always a group… I can add one more criticism of the book. John, George, and even Ringo were able to surround themselves with top musicians of the day. Not all of them, but people who played on their records were well known. Not so Paul. We read quite a bit about his efforts to get musicians to play in the Wings. He even resorted to adds in newspapers and auditions. Likely his choices were solid, but nobody I ever heard about in 1970. Why? It is really odd. I certainly did not find the answer in Kozinn’s book.
@@pawelpap9 Not sure what you mean here. Paul did or developed what he always did despite the work of the artists you mentioned at the time. As for the musicians in Wings, one way to look at it was that it was actually quite refreshing to see Paul NOT go the route of all-star musicians. Perhaps he was a bit tight with the money and those other musicians would've cost a packet on the road; and there's the point, McCartney went on the road, the others didn't, except for George and that did not last, along way his voice, too long, did it?
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
I read both books and will be waiting on Volume three. Loved them. Fascinating!
Great books. I’m half way through volume two now. I’ve enjoyed these books. I’ve also relistening to the albums as I read the passages in the books in which they were composed and recorded. I hadn’t revisited some of these albums in a quite a while and have a new and better appreciation of his work. Aside from the obvious hits, there are some deeper cuts that appeal to me more now than they did in the past. And some of the albums that were derided in the past hold up very well today. Paul is a rare talent and a world treasure.
I'm halfway through Vol II and enjoying it immensely. I'd love to see a George book on this scale.
Incidentally, War and Peace is an excellent book (one of the best ever) and not so difficult as a lot people think.
The great couple of books 👍. No-one has ever written that much and detailed about Paul and his music in the 70's.
War & Peace and Lord of the Rings are both excellent!
The best books ever written about Macca solo career. At the Speed of Sound part in Vol 2 ..savoring every page
Great review John!
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet". I'd like to add, don't believe everything you hear from an artist about their work.
These look like interesting books. Thanks for your review.
I'm like you John reading books has been something I've been pretty bad at doing these days. When I was a kid I was always reading books voraciously, but over time so many distractions have led me away from them being a priority. As for the McCartney Legacy books like most of Paul's best music they're joyous and engaging. I think the 80s will be just as interesting as the 1970s though overall it wasn't as successful commercially for Paul. Hopefully this year will be London Town and Back To The Egg archive year.
These books are for big fans, like us. I’m looking forward to them covering the interesting 80’s period next!
Best solo Beatles books series ever. Will be at least two or more books if we buy the books❤🎉
You're diabolical, Sweden!
@Springheeledjim5 you diabolicql guy stop using my avatar and identical username from today or the police will visit you according to meanmrmayo who had enough of you and martin mcgrath. last chance he told me. if i get messages from peoplr u still using my name meanmrmayo will get you guys
@Springheeledjim5 meanmrmayo knows your real name and adress. if you keep stealing my chatname on livestrams he will get in touch with you. he gave u so many warnings for a long time now
Both are among the best books out there on McCartney, and definitely the best in covering his post-Beatles career. Thoroughly researched.
I like your commentary, and this one is particularly interesting. I would have liked it better if you had shown some of the books' pictures (or is there a copyright issue?). About the short six months between the volumes, I'm guessing that they were probably working on both at the same time, more or less, so that by the time the 1st was out, they were mostly done with the 2nd. We'll see how long it takes for Volume 3 to come out.
Thank you John! Gotta read!
Masterful works. I've had the pleasure to interview Allan Kozinn twice now for my channel. Not only a gifted writer but a genuinely nice human being. Maybe use John next time as a sub editor to avoid any small errors 😊
Hello John, it is very funny that you came out with your video about the two McCartney books today. I received my copy of Volume One about two hours ago from Amazon. So I‘m really looking forward to read it although 700 pages are really a lot. I really love the records Paul did in the seventies - I‘m still a fan of the wings 😊😊😊!!! So thank you very for your video !!! Greetings from Germany, Thomas.
I purchased the paperback version of volume one. The print is too small to read!
"The Beatles thing is over."-Paul McCartney, Oct. 1969
There's the breakup announcement - not the q&a with Paul's solo album. No way such a remark would slip through the cracks today.
Yet, January 1970, Paul is in the studio recording 'I Me Mine' with George & Ringo - the last Beatles' recording session. It slipped thru the cracks because only John really knew it was over in October '69!
Volume 1 was released in December of 2022.
Thanks for the correction!
Only now, John? Only now????
Still only halfway through volume 2!
Catch up, James 😊
@@TheBeatlesWoW I'm savouring it!😇
Thank you Mr Hidden Hand
The reviews of Paul's work back in the 70s was how I learned to ignore reviews in general from that point forward. Publications like Rolling Stone were garbage and a complete waste of paper and ink. I feel sorry for those who wasted time and money for that rubbish.
Rolling Stone correctly panned most of Paul's earliest solo work, like Ram and Wild Life (they were both universally disparaged by the critics at the time and are still disparaged today by them:...they got it exactly right!....). They were a bit too dismissive of his first LP which was clearly the best of his earliest solo work...that's one of the few McCartney early LP's that's listenable as a whole..
@@myguitardetective5961 - Uh, "Ram" is not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination. Then or now. Here are a couple of quotes from RS:
"Ram is so incredibly inconsequential and so monumentally irrelevant you can’t even do that with it: it is difficult to concentrate on, let alone dislike or even hate".
"The “When I’m Sixty-Four” school of light English baubles is represented by “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” a piece with so many changes it never seems to come down anywhere, and in the places that it does, sounds like the worst piece of light music Paul has ever done."
A review so incredibly inconsequential and so monumentally irrelevant.
Aren’t you supposed to be writing a book?!
You reviewed it in your first sentence, John! ;=)
sekkund
Not really 'books' though, are they, John? One can skim though and feel one has missed nothing. War & Peace ... requires genuine curiosity.
I won't be investing in a book where they can't even do an INDEX ...a nonstarter!
These are not very good books. If you are curious what Paul and Linda had for breakfast on February 14th 1971, these books are for you! I also admit I ended up skipping endless descriptions of recording sessions. More often than not after reading 5 pages on who played what and how many takes it took for Linda to get her Casio play in right places I would listen to the final product, that is the song only to discover it is 2.5 minutes hardly memorable ditty.
What you will not find in the book are discussions of music outside of obvious observations and, even more regrettably, discussions of Paul’s position on the general music scene of 1970.
I found in volume 1 exactly two pages of a short discussion on how listeners’ tastes evolved in 1960s, to large extent thanks to The Beatles Revolution and influence. These two pages were actually insightful and we learn from them that discerning listeners moved on beyond simple melodies and three minutes AB song formats plays in radio stations. Then the authors give a list of bands influential in early 1970 and rightly point out this is what Paul was against at the time. Music of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, ELP, Yes and many similar bands occupied listeners. However, we do not learn why being aware of these developments Paul kept sliding into inconsequential pop.
Since I was around during those time the book had some nostalgic moments for me and most of all reminded me why I listened to John’s and George’s records but rarely to Paul’s. The latter I remember mostly from his incessant hits blasting from radios (yes, people had radios in 1970s, as hard as it might be to believe).
The books haven't got footnotes, or a bloody index, SHABBY AND CHEAP 😂
@ I read Kindle version. It had footnotes.
@@pawelpap9 Did you ever get the impression that Paul was going to compete musically with the likes of King Crimson or Jethro Tull?
@@candelise Do you mean in 1970? Or now, with all the wisdom of hindsight?
How would you know in 1970 how individual members of The Beatles will fair? They never performed separately (aside from some avant-garde project, but Paul did not even do that), they were always a group…
I can add one more criticism of the book. John, George, and even Ringo were able to surround themselves with top musicians of the day. Not all of them, but people who played on their records were well known. Not so Paul. We read quite a bit about his efforts to get musicians to play in the Wings. He even resorted to adds in newspapers and auditions. Likely his choices were solid, but nobody I ever heard about in 1970. Why? It is really odd. I certainly did not find the answer in Kozinn’s book.
@@pawelpap9 Not sure what you mean here. Paul did or developed what he always did despite the work of the artists you mentioned at the time. As for the musicians in Wings, one way to look at it was that it was actually quite refreshing to see Paul NOT go the route of all-star musicians. Perhaps he was a bit tight with the money and those other musicians would've cost a packet on the road; and there's the point, McCartney went on the road, the others didn't, except for George and that did not last, along way his voice, too long, did it?